Hakumo is both a digital and traditional artist with pieces featured in a variety of art books including Kingdom Carousel, Quixotic, and GAIA. Each of these art books’ proceeds go towards a charitable cause (St. Jude’s Children Research Hospital, American Cancer Society, and the Red Cross of Colombia, respectively). Hakumo’s skills range from digitally drawn fanarts of anime and other interests to creating fantastical pieces inspired from childhood memories.

ToonariPost (TP): What artists would you consider working with to do a piece? Why, and what type of work do you think would come from this partnership? If not, what are your reasons?

Hakumo (H): For the time being, I’m not mentally ready to work with other artists. As far as I know I have a strong urge to control. Unfortunately, it wouldn’t be fair to the other partner if that happens. If I need to do it, something that’s humorous or playful, like maybe working with friends or people I already know is a possibility, or doing a meme of sorts actually feels like a way I could work with the artists who made it (and most of the time the answers are pretty much, ridiculous, haha).

TP: If there was any art medium that you wish you could master, what would it be and why?

H: All! Well, that would be too good to be true. As for me, I would like to master pencil and pen. I was inspired by manga and aspire to do my own comic one day. I think the two are a fundamental part of starting it. Not just that, it’s simply amazing how a piece of work can look with just a pencil or a pen! To be honest, I think there’s never enough practice for any medium, you keep finding different ways to play with it and that’s never boring.

TP: You are taking part in the charity art book project, Kingdom Carousel. Can you tell me more about how you became a part of this project? How did you choose an art piece to be used in the project?

H: I was kindly invited by the organizer and it was a great pleasure for me! How I chose the piece: there were 3 or 4 ideas to choose from. From them I took one that fit the criteria first, and then one I had the urge to do very much, to make sure I expressed the feeling well. The ideas are mostly my impression of (my) childhood; warmth, comfort, whimsicality, and fantasy because when you’re a kid it seems like your mind is at the wildest, isn’t it?

The piece submitted is the one I wanted to do at that moment, I loved working on it; crazy hours but I learned a lot. When I have time in the future I would love to complete the other ideas as well.

TP: What is your most memorable moment from any convention you have been to?

H: Aside from learning to organize, I got to meet people who enjoy doing what I enjoy to do! Not just the artists’ themselves (in real life!), but also people who enjoy the artworks: people who’re willing to buy, even just saying that they like it. I met people I didn’t know before and they became my friends. I think that is one experience you don’t get often.

TP: What are your goals in life?  Do you plan to continue art as a hobby or make it a career?

H: Both. Career sounds so formal doesn’t it? I like to think of it more as making art as a living. If I can make what I love to do that will be the best job one can have in the world! As for life itself, I want to make it as enjoyable as possible, learning new things as much as possible, and go with what chances greet me on the way.

TP: Do you feel that your culture has influenced you in some way that makes you different than other artists?

H: Quite likely. One thing I realized was it wasn’t as comfortable for me in exposing things that are rather personal because I was taught to keep low and safe. I still think I do now. There are so many safely kept ideas because of that. Although, recently, memorable things from my childhood or personal favorites keep appearing in my works, so I take it as a positive thing. Gradually I hope to conquer this habit.

TP: Can you tell me more about your background?  What experiences brought you to be the person you are today?

H: Ah, nothing interesting about my background except that I was born in a family with no artistic background. The support of family, friends, and people I meet or know me, online or offline is what brought me to what I am now. Without them I would probably be somewhere not knowing how to draw. Thinking back on that, I regard this as a great blessing and luck.

Image Courtesy of  Hakumo

The article Artist Spotlight: Hakumo Interview, Part 2 appeared first on The Toonari Post - News, Powered by the People!.

Hakumo is a brilliant and amusing artist. While this artist’s gender remains a secret, this mystery is nothing but a trivial circumstance. It also adds one less layer of bias to any viewer lucky enough to stumble upon Hakumo’s gallery of digital artwork. Hakumo also creates traditional artwork, but because of the lack of a scanner at opportune times, these pieces rarely find themselves in an online gallery. You can see the delicately and passionately drawn original characters, fanart, and other pieces in Hakumo’s DeviantART gallery, Tumblr, personal website, and even buy them at the online store.

ToonariPost (TP): How and when did you first start practicing your art (are you traditionally trained or self-taught)?

Hakumo (H): It started as a hobby, drawing when I was first exposed to the (art) comic world; Disney’s Mickey-Donald, The Smurfs, Tintin, Asterix and Obelix, then the initial boom of Japanese manga like Sailor Moon or Candy Candy. Because of the culture of where I lived at the time, being an illustrator/comic artist didn’t occur to me at the slightest. It was when my friend introduced me to anime in high school that made me realize there are people who draw and make that as a living out there. That anime, and later the manga that was first introduced to me, was Rurouni Kenshin – which I have loved until this day.

I am mostly self-taught, manga and anime took a greater part of me, which led me to embrace Japanese culture itself. It really influences my subject and style of drawing. When I realized art might be the path I wanted to pursue I was lucky enough to be able to go into art school. They did not teach me 100% of my skills as I expected BUT they taught me exactly what I needed; techniques, tips, and tricks.

TP: What mediums do you use for your art work?  Which is your favorite and why?

H: I use quite a bit of everything actually. As for recent works I have explored more on the digital side. I don’t have a scanner with me most of the time so I hardly show my traditional works. I like to experiment with many mediums, but my favorites are pencil, pen, and digital. If I have to pick again from the 3, I think pencil takes the lead.

TP: What piece of your work is your favorite and why?  Which one are you most proud of?

H: Hm, I’m the type of person who gets attached to their works. I like them all, each has the sentiment of why and how I made them. Let’s see…I think elaborate pieces with details or background took my attention the most. They look great when you imagine the full piece in your head but actually creating it is harder! Ones like “It’s better BLUE” or several pieces that I did for art books like Kingdom Carousel, GAIA, and Rising Sun, are probably my most memorable. “Let’s talk it nicely” and “Bookman Jr.” are also my favorites because of the perspective and inking trial-error. But for personal reasons, I always like “Paper Blue” and “Playground: Fish”.

The one I most proud of…is probably the recent piece for Kingdom Carousel. It was quite detailed and different from what I did so far. I can still feel the process and the feeling from when I did the last touch and declared it was finished.

TP: When you first started did you ever hit any bumps in your art process. How did you overcome them?

H: The first time I encountered DeviantART, it was a really great culture shock; I learned about things called “digital art”, “tablet”, and “illustration”. My background started with comics and I was not as digitally adept. It was practically the first time for me to hear those terms. I was absent from dA for about 2 or 3 years because I thought things weren’t being too well-received and I want to focus on school instead. But my curiosity just needed to see what other art and artists are out there. So eventually I came back, learned how to draw and use my first Wacom tablet, and I just kept drawing from there.

TP: Who or what are your inspirations and why?

H: Aside from movies, art books, and ogling at other artists’ works, my inspirations also come from daily life and experiences. Things like dreams, animals, patterns, scenery, food, regular things you encounter every day. They never allow you to stop thinking of what to create or draw.

Recently I found myself really attracted to ‘rough’ things like Studio 4C’s pencil works, Miwa Shirow’s pen works, Vagabond or One Piece; their line works look really attractive to me. Oh, and Gintama because it never fails to make me laugh and cry at the same time.

Image Courtesy of  Hakumo

The article Artist Spotlight: Hakumo Interview, Part 1 appeared first on The Toonari Post - News, Powered by the People!.